Ways and means to improve pass rate in national exams

It is infamous that after the country attained its independence from colonial rule in 1980, then Prime Minister President Mugabe declared education for all programme. For many years Zimbabwean education and literacy rate has been much higher compared to its neighbouring countries in Southern Africa.

The country's positive reputation that prevailed in previous years should be maintained even up to date.   
According to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC), this years' June Ordinary Level examinations recorded an average pass rate of 37,96%  which  is 13% lower than 2013 June results.
 
Advanced level results also showed a decline in the pass rate compared to the last two years. A level 2012 pass rate was 53%, while 2013 was 54,35%. It is however, disheartening to note that the June 2014 pass rate also turn down to 51,46%.

In order to curb these deteriorating standards of public education in all local schools, I believe and appreciate that every individual should contribute immensely to improve the education sector.

As citizens we should stop the blame game and put our focus on the best ways that we can to increase the pass rate of students sitting for national examinations. In view of that, members of the public and teachers' unions have been blaming this drop of June exam pass rate to the policies that were enacted by the primary and secondary education Minister Lazarus Dokora.

In line with that, the Ministry of primary and secondary education should consider the welfare of school children and stop banning extra lessons in schools. Not all children are fast learners that once they are taught they will be well geared up for the final examinations. Some students need extra time to boost their level of academic understanding. It is for that reason that extra lessons should not be banned. Teachers and parents know best the weaknesses of their students hence they should reach a mutual agreement on best methods they can use to build the future of their children.

Parents who are aware of their children's weak points should therefore make much more efforts to find funds to pay for the extra lessons. For that reason, the policy that was endorsed by the Minister should not limit those parents who are able to pay for their children's extra lessons.

Teachers are the source of inspiration, hence there should also be motivated for them to work extra hard. If the morale of teachers is low, the effects will be easily noticed through the poor performance of students. If possible, the Ministry of primary and secondary education should quickly address teachers' concerns especially on the issue of incentivizing them. Giving incentives to teachers uplifts their teaching morale; such that students may consume quality education which at end may improve pass rates on all national exams.

On the other hand, parents' recklessness contributes to the decline in students' pass rate. Due to change of times and technological advancement, nowadays school children spend most of their time on social networks such as facebook, twitter and whatsapp. It is imperative that students use internet more for research purposes than those social networks.  These social networks have contributed enormously to the decline of pass rates in the country.

It is therefore the duty of the parent or guardian to entirely monitor their children's studying habits and encourage their children to read and revise their work when they are at home.  If parents fail to take full responsibility for their children's education usually the students perform dismally.

It is saddening also to note that some school children spend most time smoking weed and taking drugs. Drug abuse has a negative impact on academic performance of students. Reports from Mutare showed that seven school girls from Dangamvura and St Joseph's high school were arrested by the police after they were caught red handed smoking cannabis.  

School headmasters should play a pivotal role of fully managing and assessing their teaching staff on how they will be conducting their duties during normal school days. Teachers should follow timetables and attend all lessons without fail. Some reports were saying that during the course of the term some teachers will be reluctant to perform their duties and only become serious when they will be conducting extra lessons. Teachers should be wholly committed to their job despite the economic hardships that the country is going through.